March 31, 2011

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Two weeks after a magnitude 6.3 earthquake demolished much of Christchurch, New Zealand, emergency workers were still pulling bodies from the rubble and residents are being told to keep boiling or treating drinking water. A New Zealand Baptist leader has asked believers worldwide to pray for the country during a time of unprecedented struggle.

“This is a time of severe trauma and unchartered territory for all people,” Kelvyn Fairhall, national administrator of Baptist Churches of New Zealand, said in a statement sent to the Baptist Global Response relief and development organization. “There will be huge questions and issues that our pastors and their leaders have to grapple with over the next few days, weeks and months.”

Churches in New Zealand have partnered with each other or with relief agencies to form hubs of operation, Fairhall added. “They are all working hard to respond to the needs around them,” Fairhall said.